Circling back as I've finally had some time to fly since the surgery.

So I found that the combination of Global Textures plus the addition of good LC globally has produced some really exceptional results...  I will be honest, I miss "some" elements of the Ultimate terrain series, specifically the industrial areas and some of their custom textures for ports etc however V5 is SOOO much better than previous versions in so many ways I am doing without as I think UT impacted road traffic and autogen adversely whereas V5 has improved shorelines, water bodies etc so much that the positives of staying without UT outweigh the negatives.  I do also agree with @Rob_Ainscough that despite their age and not being PBR the Global textures are the way to go, especially when flying "globally" no pun intended.  

In short the move from V4 to V5 is much larger than an incremental step in the same sim imho.  It's not like any P3D update I've experienced before.  I need less add-ons to make it look exceptional, I can increase settings while seeing increased performance simultaneously, Add-ons don't have the same hit to performance as V4 and virtually all V4 add-ons are V5 compatible.  

If you are like me and waited, I'd absolutely say now is the time to move from V4 to V5.  There is no downside...  

I'm still struggling a bit with things like EA, night lighting, cockpit lighting (All related to EA) but honestly can't believe this is the same sim as V4.  

I am running a strong machine to be fair, 12700 with a 3080ti but even going back to V4 doesn't give this performance.  

No comments on comparisons to any other sims, just an expression of pleasure and satisfaction with V5 and the progression from 4.5HF3 while decreasing the add-ons required to achieve in some cases even better results.  

44 minutes ago, psolk said:

If you are like me and waited, I'd absolutely say now is the time to move from V4 to V5.  There is no downside...  

Sadly, there is. The number of parking positions at default airports has been greatly reduced at 99% of airports. Only the large ones have escaped this treatment.

Maybe LM will address this in v6 because there seems no likelihood they will in v5. Repeated requests on their forum have gone unanswered. Standard policy I’m afraid.